Green Desert - Chapter 2.6.5 - Pí‘oro

Lights swirled at the far end of infinity. Red, brown, green, teal, blue, purple, and back to red. Pinpricks against the void growing to huge swaths of color. Green, yellow, pink; white, turquoise, teal. Ultraviolet, antiyellow, ultrayellow, green.

Finally they coalesced, forming sun-drenched dirt close to my one functioning eye. I couldn’t move. My wings were broken, my feathers torn, my talons snapped. Above me, a wolf snarled, saliva dripping from its fangs. It sniffed, growled deep in its throat, and lunged.

I braced for the teeth in my flesh, for the snap of my spine, for the final flicker of pain that was my sorry life. but the wolf paused, gazed deep into my eye.

A flash. A fallen eagle beneath my snout, unprotected, an easy kill.

And back to my nearly lifeless body, waiting for the final moment, waiting to die.

The wolf lifted a paw, placed it on my exposed chest. A jolt. My heart pounded, my wings twitched. Flesh rewove itself, bones knitted, skin and fingers grew. Life surged throughout my body.

I flexed my muscles, flapped my wings, stood up and looked the wolf in his huge yellow eyes. I nodded my unending gratitude. The wolf bowed his head, abashed. I flapped my wings, hopped forward, and launched myself back into existence.